Monday, October 16, 2017

Tribal members march against Narragansett water deal with power plant company

EDITOR’S
NOTE: For many more photos and videos of this protest, please go to Steve’s original posting
in Rhode Island’s Future. – Will Collette

Narragansett
Indian Tribe (NIT) members and power plant
opponents from Burrillville marched together
from the Rhode Island Indian Counciloffices
on Broad Street in Providence to the Rhode Island State House in
opposition to Invenergy‘s
proposed $1 billion fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant and against
the water deal the company secured with NIT leadership, without the consent of
tribe members.

In order to cool its
turbines, Invenergy must secure a source of potable water.

After failing to
secure water in the vicinity of the plant, Invenergy negotiated a deal with the
Town of Johnston to truck water to Burrillville.

That deal is being
challenged in Rhode Island Superior Court.

Invenergy recently revealed
that they had secured alternative water supplies from two sources: the
Narragansett Indian Tribe in Charlestown and one other source, which has been
redacted in Energy Facility Siting Board filings.

Narragansett Tribe
members were as surprised as the rest of Rhode Island by Invenergy’s
announcement, and now members are speaking out, saying that without
ratification from the tribal body by means of a vote, there can be no deal.

Before the march
started there was a ceremony in which sage was burned and the smoke wafted onto
participants.

The tribe members who
spoke at the end of the march are normally reticent about talking about tribal
problems in public.

Elected tribe
councilors have been in a dispute with leadership since the 2016 elections for
Tribal Council, and there was deep division between tribe members and the
tribal leadership before the deal with Invenergy became public.

“Whoever signed the
water deal for the sake of the Burrillville power plant was not authorized on
the part of the Narragansett Tribe,” said NIT Councilor Randy Noka. “So as far as I’m
concerned that agreement is illegal… If the tribe were to vote on it, the
answer would be no.”

To NIT tribe members,
Noka added, “This alleged agreement is indicative of some of the things that
have been ongoing. I don’t typically air tribal laundry out here to the public
beyond the tribe but… If they can sign an agreement such as this without
consulting with members, then what else are they doing?

“So tribal members,
open your eyes to the realities of what’s going on. Open your eyes to the
realities of no election. Open your eyes to the realities of civil rights being
violated, of people being physically violated on the reservation… We’re
fighting for the rights of our people.”

“We’re not going to
allow it. We’re going to fight it, contest it. We’re protesting it and we have
the energy of the great spirit behind us,” said NIT Councilor Domingo Talldog Monroe.

“We have come here
today to call upon our federal representatives to honor our land and trust,”
said NIT member Darlene Monroe.

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs is
supposed to oversee what goes on in our tribe. However, corruption is rampant
in Indian country… We want our constitution respected just as the United States
Constitution is respected.”

Three people from
Burrillville also spoke, welcoming the partnership with the Narragansett Tribe
members in opposing the power plant.

Steve Ahlquist is an award-winning journalist,
writer, artist and founding member of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a
non-profit group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action.
The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization
of which he is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com
and Twitter: @SteveAhlquist